BACKGROUND: Although use of long-acting opioid analgesics has increased for chronic nonmalignant pain management, little is known about patient-reported utilization patterns. OBJECTIVE: To assess patient-reported utilization patterns of fentanyl transdermal system and oxycodone hydrochloride (HCl) controlled-release among patients with chronic nonmalignant pain and to compare these patterns to standard dose administration guidelines recommended in the manufacturers' prescribing information (PI). METHODS: Cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study of English-speaking patients who were seeking chronic nonmalignant pain management from 6 outpatient pain clinics. The inclusion criteria for the study were (1) diagnosis of chronic nonmalignant pain, (2) prescription for and current use of either transdermal fentanyl or oxycodone HCl controlled-release, and (3) duration of use for either transdermal fentanyl or oxycodone HCl controlled-release of at least 6 weeks. Patients completed either an oxycodone HCl controlled-release or transdermal fentanyl utilization questionnaire. A conversion table was used to standardize opioid analgesic doses from transdermal fentanyl or oxycodone HCl controlled-release to daily oral morphine equivalents. The principal outcome measures were the average interval between oxycodone HCl controlled-release administrations, the number of days the current transdermal fentanyl patch would be worn, and the percentage of oxycodone HCl controlled-release and transdermal fentanyl patients whose administration frequency exceeded the standard recommendation in the manufacturer's PI (every 12 hours for oxycodone HCl controlled-release or every 72 hours for transdermal fentanyl). Other outcome measures included the number of oxycodone HCl controlled-release tablets per administration, the daily dose of long-acting opioid, the duration of adequate pain relief, and the difference in daily oral morphine equivalents between transdermal fentanyl and oxycodone HCl controlled-release patients, after adjusting in a multivariate regression model for demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 690 patients were enrolled in this study; 437 (63.4%) received oxycodone HCl controlled- release and 253 (36.6%) received transdermal fentanyl. Oxycodone HCl controlled-release patients reported taking a median of 1 tablet 3 times per day or a median of 3 tablets per day. A mean of 1.6 tablets per administration and 4.6 tablets per day were taken. The average interval between administrations of oxycodone HCl controlled-release was 7.8 hours, and the median daily dose was 80.0 mg (mean 155.6 mg). Among oxycodone HCl controlled-release patients, 17.5% had
an average interval between administrations of 12 or more hours, whereas 1.9% reported the duration of pain relief as 12 or more hours. Transdermal fentanyl patients reported wearing the patch, on average, for 2.5 days (median 2.5), and 41.2% reported wearing the patch for at least 3 days, whereas 14.1% reported the duration of pain relief as at least 3 days. The median daily dosage strength of transdermal fentanyl was 75.0 mcg/hour. In the multivariate regression analysis, oxycodone HCl controlled-release patients had, on average, roughly 22 mg additional oral morphine equivalents per day relative to transdermal fentanyl patients (not statistically significant); the probability that oxycodone HCl controlled-release patients had higher oral morphine equivalents was 82.6%, which suggests a trend toward higher oral morphine equivalents per day in the oxycodone HCl controlled-release group. CONCLUSION: Transdermal fentanyl and oxycodone HCl controlled-release both appear to be used by patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the standard recommendation in the manufacturers' PI; however, the difference between patient-reported utilization and the PI recommendation is more pronounced with oxycodone HCl controlled-release.
